Agitated Atmosphere: Green Blossoms – Whiskey Leaves

As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosphere hopes to shed a bit of light and share a bit of information on the up and coming sounds of artists such as Green Blossoms

As we bid fond farewells to the summer heat and greet the sheepish arrival of fall cool and autumnal colors, we look for something, anything to hold onto those warm memories absent of heat waves, work, and obligations. The kid in us craves the summers of our youth. Carefree days of no work, no worries, and all wonderment — days full of running with no purpose, jumping in the nearest watering hole for a brief respite from the blazing sun.

Look no further than Whiskey Leaves, the latest peep from Green Blossoms. Released via Digitalis, Whiskey Leaves is the perfect blend of summer’s warmth and fall’s cool touches, which mimics the balance inherent in its traditional Japanese strokes and adventurous Westerner pop. This highly functional blending is the product of Aiko Koga and Anthony Guerra, whose work is a welcome deviation from the wear and tear of daily life. Whiskey Leaves is brimming with meditative pop drawing from all corners of post-industrial civilization. The creations of Koga and Guerra may play superficial but as we’ve learned from many years of changing seasons, things aren’t always as they seem. Subtlety is the name of the game and though much of it is masked with two and three chord melodies, the chances Green Blossoms willingly take in crafting a J-pop doppelganger are rewarding. The staccato plucks, injecting bends, and hushed coos of Koga and Guerra haunt Whiskey Leaves at every turn, transforming a relatively simple album into a richly textured diamond in the rough. Like the breezes that usher out the sun and bring in the rain, Whiskey Leaves announces the change in weather without leaving us with a few warm days to reminisce about another summer come and gone, allowing us to hold onto them for 30 more minutes.

Listen to “Red Cup”:

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Justin Spicer is a freelance journalist who also runs the webzine, Electronic Voice Phenomenon. He writes the Monday News Mash-Up and Thursday edition of Song of the Day for the KEXP Blog. You may follow him on Twitter.